The encounter with the women really broke me. I thought about it through out the day, but I later decided to move on with my life.

On Sunday, an announcement was made by Pastor that people should volunteer themselves to be cleaning the church every Sunday morning before the commencement of church service. I quickly jumped at the offer.

But when I thought of it later, I discovered that coming to church very early would not be easy because my house was a bit far from the church. Then an idea occur to me that I could come to church on Saturday evening and hold a personal vigil till Sunday morning when I will be doing the work.

“Brilliant idea,” I thought.

While I was taking this decision, I thought the work would be very easy. Saturday evening I went to the church. I prayed from 8:00pm till 1:00am and went to sleep. By 4:00am, I woke and started work. I mopped the altar, dusted the pulpit, offering box and chairs both in the main church and children department. Surprisingly, from the time I started the work, till when I finished, no other person came to assist me.

“I never knew that this work will be tedious. All the same, it is onward ever, God will strengthen me,” I told myself.

The following Sunday, alarm woke me up by 4:00am and I started work as usual. By the time I went to mop the altar, I saw money there and I transferred it to the offering box. Later when I was dusting the offering plate, I noticed that one of the security personnel was secretly watching me. I didn’t mind him, anyway. I had to concentrate on the work I was doing.

Few minutes later, he went to the offering box, looked inside, then gave me an admonitory look me and walked away. I wondered why he should look at me that way though I never confronted him.

In the afternoon, immediately after church service, one of the women executives; Mummy Kindness came to meet me.

“Judy, are you having accommodation problem?”

“No ma,”I answered.

“Then why have you been sleeping in the church?”

“Ma, I stay in church once a week and that is Saturday nights…” She did not allow me to finish the statement before throwing another question.

“Permit me to ask you why a young lady like you will prefer to sleep in church, even if it is once in a month, when you have a home?”

I told to her that I sleep in church on Saturdays to enable me do the early morning cleanings in church. I also explained to her that I cannot meet up with the work if I was to come on Sunday morning because my house was far from church.

“But what were you doing with offering box?”

“I don’t understand you ma? Offering box was among the things I dusted.”

“Alright, I will make you to understand since you claim you don’t know what I’m talking about. The security officer told me that he saw you trying to take something from the offering box. When he checked later, he discovered that money was there. What do you have to say about that?”

“The time he saw me, was when I was cleaning the offering box. Besides that, I was the one that kept the money he saw inside the box. When I was mopping the altar, I saw the money there. I had to transfer it to the box for it not to get wet.”

“Judy are you sure that was the only money you found on the altar? Be sincere; you are in the house of God,” she asked.

“Mummy, why are you embarrassing me?” I broke down in tears.

“Judy, let’s face the fact, you are the one embarrassing yourself. If I was to be in your shoes, I would have developed a phobia for offering box. Why have you turned yourself to a magnet that attracts metal?”

She was shaking her fist at me with a furious countenance.

I almost told her that she or one of her children will surely be in my shoes since she know how to handle the situation. But the fear of God did not allow me to say it.

“Judy, why do you always go to where you are not invited? The other day, it was rice and fried meat you wanted to take care of. Now, you are sneaking around in the dark with the pretense that you are cleaning the church. Let me give you a motherly advice because it is obvious that your mother never advised you. Or she advised you but you failed to heed to her advice. Learn how to respect yourself. If you do, no one will insult you. In addition to that, stop sleeping in the church. As for the cleaning, God does not lack workers; it must not be you.”

“Since Pastor made this call no other person responded except me. Why are you trying to stop me from working for God?” I asked in tears.

“Have you seen my point; why would you be the only one to respond if you don’t have a hidden agenda?”

“You are right Mummy; my agenda is different from that of other girls. My agenda is similar to that of Mary Magdalene. I am constantly searching for ways to give little to this great God who gave me so much. Though the emotional torture you and other church members are making me go through is gradually taking away the will to move on. I know that his grace is sufficient for me.”

Another woman was nearby so I decided to report the matter to her.

“Mummy good afternoon ma.”

“Good afternoon Judy. How are you?”

I’m fine mummy. Please ma, I want you to help me to talk to mummy Kindness. I have been coming to church to clean the altar and chairs every morning. But she is trying to stop me,” I told her. But mummy Kindness quickly interrupted me.

“She said she has been coming early to clean offering box for us,”she chipped in.

“Does offering box need cleaning ?” The woman asked in order to make Mummy Kindness happy.

“Help me and ask this unrepentant criminal. She is the only one that knows what she is looking for. Almost every Sunday, she wears new cloth. How is she getting the money? Maybe they have caught her in other places she use to steal and she decided to remember our church again.”

I quietly walked away but my life never remained the same. The encounter with her brought lots of negative thoughts to my mind. It made me to take some far reaching decisions.

One of them was that I decided concentrate on Sunday church services and avoid any meeting or activity organized by the departments or whatever that will make me to be in the church compound alone.

I was so hurt that it also affected my personal devotions. I was finding it difficult to pray or even study my Bible.

One of the nights I had a dream where I saw the woman that was tormenting me. That was my first time of seeing her after my deliverance. She brought food and commanded me to eat.

“I am not hungry,” I tried to resist but I was weak.

Watch out for the next episode!

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